Join the Campaign for Arab Women's Right to Nationality

March 28, 2006

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

Please join with us in supporting the Campaign for Arab Women's Right to Nationality, led by WLP's partner organizations in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and Gulf regions, Collective for Research and Training on Development-Action (CRTD-A), Lebanon; Association Démocratique des Femmes du Maroc (ADFM), Morocco; and the Forum for Women in Development (FWID), Egypt; in partnership with their allies the Bahrain Women's Society (BWS), Bahrain; Centre de l'Information et de Documentation sur les Droits de l'Enfant et de la Femme (CIDDEF), Algeria; and the Jordanian National Women's Commission (JNCW), Jordan.

In almost every country in the MENA and Gulf regions, women who marry men of other nationalities cannot confer their original nationality to their husbands or children. Only fathers, not mothers, can confer their nationality to their children.

Discriminatory laws denying women equal nationality rights undermine women's status as equal citizens in their home countries. Such laws send the message that women do not enjoy a direct relationship with the state, but must access their citizenship rights through the mediation of a male family member, such as a father or a husband. Until women in the MENA and Gulf regions are recognized as full nationals and citizens, they cannot participate fully in public life, nor claim the other rights to which they are entitled as equal members of their societies.

The denial of women's nationality rights also creates real suffering for dual nationality families living in the woman's home country. Children are spouses are treated as foreigners and must obtain costly residency permits. Children are often excluded from social services such as social security, healthcare and subsidized or free access to education. In many countries, spouses and children have limited employment opportunities and are unable to own property. In terms of psychological impact, many women feel isolated and guilty because they feel responsible for the difficulties faced by their families, while children suffer from low self-esteem because of their second-class status.

TAKE ACTION NOW